1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of client-server electronic communication, and more particularly to use of a cookie or token to provide and maintain state information.
2. Description of the Related Art
The typical client-server architecture using a client browser and server generated or provided web pages is generally considered a stateless environment. To provide and maintain state information, it is known to use tokens or “cookies”.
A client user logging into a site may receive many different cookies, each with its respective purpose. In some applications, the user receives a cookie that is used to select a particular webserver for load balancing; a cookie representing the user's application session, one or more cookie(s) representing the user's session used for Single Sign On with other systems, and multiple GET ACCESS cookie(s) used for Single Sign On with other GET ACCESS Systems.
The generation of some cookies, namely the GET ACCESS cookies, can take an extended period of time. In the case of the GET ACCESS cookies, the application server, on behalf of the user performs a simulated login. During the login process the application server connects to the remote system over https, screen scraps the html, logs in as the user, and retrieves the cookies from the resulting http headers. If this login fails a change password is performed on behalf of the user and the login reattempted. All of this could take quite some time degrading login performance even though the user does not need these cookies immediately upon entering the application.
What is needed is a system and method to allow a user into a site with only the cookies that are immediately necessary. Other cookies, such as the GET ACCESS cookies, are delivered asynchronously as they become available.
The preceding description is not to be construed as an admission that any of the description is prior art to the present invention.